Pokémon : Variance
by furaiz
Summary: Smart!Ash, Apathetic, etc. Ash starts out as a teenager, different past, different goals in life. AU, contains mix of elements from anime and game. Not sure what else to say, follows order of regions, will go through all of them. Will probably be in-progress for the entirety of the anime series rather than seperate fictions. I'll think on that. (KANTO CURRENT)
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

* * *

The sun rose over Pallet Town and a 14 year old Pokémon Trainer by the name of Ash Ketchum was woken by the crowing of a Dodrio. It had been 4 years to the day when Ash finally became a Pokémon trainer at the age of ten. Unusually for a boy of his age, he didn't seem particularly interested in this fact, preferring to stick around his home town for a few more years. Of course, Gary Oak, the grandson of the famous Professor Oak, always tried to annoy Ash any way he could. Ash was unusually mature for his age however, and simply ignored the inane chatter Gary spouted, he really didn't pay much attention to him at all. Well, one event had changed his life. Maybe he might have lost his temper if he were a different person, but this Ash changed.

It had been just over 8 years since Ash lost his right eye. He now wore an eye patch, but the loss of the eye had forever changed him. I mean, losing an eye to an overly-aggressive Sandslash is probably going to change your life quite a bit. Still, after the shock his mother got from the 'accident', it had taken a while before things settled down again, and she started referring to it as making him 'distinguished'. Mothers. Or more specifically a 'Delia Ketchum', an unusually happy person. Your son losing his eye would probably stay with you for a long time, but she got over that pretty quickly. Then again, she wasn't the one who lost the eye, so moot point. Continuing on with my epic Narrator voice…

Ash never told anyone for a long time what actually happened with the Sandslash, but his mother wheedled it out of him eventually. As it turned out, an overly excited Ash had kicked a rock, and it just happened to smack a nearby Sandslash in the face. Now, I don't know about you, but it's a justifiable reason for getting mad. Moral of the story: Little kids shouldn't be allowed out of their parent's sight. Too bad that he had Delia as his mother. Heart in the right place, brain definitely not. What was surprising though was that Ash had kept a special something out of the details. That only came out when he got his trainer registration at 10 years old.

It was well known for any aspiring trainer, that you were allowed to pick up a starter Pokémon from the region's Pokémon expert, or 'Professor' at the age of ten, for some odd reason. Nevertheless, this was the accepted custom. Now, the starter Pokémon were rare enough so that only a few aspiring trainers could actually get one of them. Everyone else unable to, had to make do with a Pokémon raised in the family or caught from the wild as their first one. The Kanto region, where Ash lives, has three specific Pokémon to choose from.

A fire type Pokémon called a Charmander:

_"Charmander is an orange, bipedal, reptilian creature. Charmander has two small fangs visible on its upper and lower jaws and blue eyes. It has a cream-colored underside and an expansive cream marking on the soles of its feet. Its arms and legs are short, and it has four fingers and three clawed toes. A flame burns on the tip of its tail, which is there even at birth. This flame can be used as an indication of Charmander's health and mood. The flame burns brightly when it is strong and weakly when it is weak. When Charmander is happy, the flame will waver; it will blaze if Charmander is enraged. It is said that Charmander dies if its flame goes out."_

A pokedex is really a useful tool, you must surely agree. Oh wait. I'll explain what that is later.

A grass type Pokémon called a Bulbasaur:

_"Bulbasaur is a small, quadruped Pokémon with green or bluish green skin and dark patches. Its thick legs each end with three sharp claws. Its eyes have red irises, while the sclera and pupils are white. Bulbasaur has a pair of small, pointed teeth visible when its mouth is open. It has a bulb on its back, grown from a seed planted there at birth. The bulb provides it with energy through photosynthesis as well as from the nutrient-rich seeds contained within."_

Yep. Really useful. And uh, detailed.

A water type Pokémon called a Squirtle… You get the point.

Anyway, every registered trainer was now starting to be given a special device called a Pokedex. It had been created mainly by Professor Oak, mainly to help document the locations of Pokémon, or used to identify known Pokémon by trainers. There were plenty of other features, developed specifically for trainers, such as a move identifier, allowing the trainer to know all the moves their Pokémon knew, or to identify a move being used if unknown by the holder. One special feature was an 'electronic bank' which automatically took winnings from trainers and deposited them. The bank stored on the pokedex could not give out winnings if below a thousand pokedollars, since money was needed by the trainers in case of emergency. I know I'm making this sound like organised gambling worldwide, but hey, the world as we know it is a pretty unusual place as is, can't do much damage with the gambling on Pokémon battles can we? Fortunately, not that many pokedexes are out as of yet, though Professor Oak probably thought he'd get a lot of royalties out of the winnings when trainers with pokedexes battled each other. Then again, maybe he really did do it out of his love of… research/Pokémon/stuff.

As you can see, I, the epic Narrator, love to go off on a tangent and thoroughly irritate 'people'. I'm also extremely pretty, but I'll probably ignore you.

_*AHEM*_

Oh yes, sorry, back to the point.

On this particular day, our Ash, the cute kid with the scar from Pallet Town, was due to register. No hurry for him though, but he did end up breaking his alarm clock. He isn't a morning person; I've learnt that lesson well.

Anyway… Turns out he overslept, and was late for the registration with Professor Oak. Of course, he doesn't bother rushing to get ready, why should he? He already has me for company.

_"Efi… Just get on with it."_

Fine!

So this 'Ash' gets to the lab to meet 'jerk' Gary Oak, already boasting about having the strongest pokemon and how he was going to crush Ash. Of course, Ash is 'too cool' for that stuff by now, so he just ignores the jerk.

Leaf was nice though. I miss leaf. When will we see her again?

_"Efi!"_

Jeez! I was only… Forget it!

So. Leaf was totally nice, I'm pretty certain she has a crush on 'Ash', not that he cares. Gee. He can be mean without doing anything at all. Still, he does care… for some things.

So turns out Leaf picked up a Bulbasaur, she really loves Venasaur, she's quite a fanatic over them. Since Gary wasn't nice enough to even tell us what Gary picked up, Leaf decided to instead. So sweet. So Gary picked out a 'cute' Squirtle. Not that I would have guessed, but a Blastoise is probably a mean looking pokemon. Also, it turned out some random guy called Red picked up the Charmander that Professor Oak had. We still don't know where he came from either; he's kind of a ghost guy.

It was kind of obvious to Leaf that there weren't any pokemon left, but Ash played it cool with her and said she should go off and catch some pokemon. Leaf forgot all about Ash's predicament. He's pretty good at misdirection.

Anyway after stopping in to see Oak, he suddenly realises he gave all the starter pokemon away. He's pretty forgetful.

It's alright though, because 'Ash' has got that totally covered. See he already has a pokemon, and he just wants to register her as his starter pokemon. At this point Oak, is pretty interested, and asks to see her. Of course, Ash calls out the most beautiful pokemon in the world.

_"Efi!"_

It's no fun with you is it?

After calling out this beautiful pokemon, Oak's face now resembles a Magikarp. Personally, I think his brain was broken before that point, but that just drove the nail into the coffin.

Long story short, Ash eventually brings Oak back to life and registers this beautiful pokemon as Ash's starter. Ash doesn't want to go on a journey yet though, so this pokemon gets stuck with him in Pallet Town for 4 years… Oh how time passes. Slowly.

He had a decent reason for it I suppose, lack of knowledge about pokemon and basic survival skills mainly, so he stuck around learning. I think he was scared though.

_"Efi…"_

Maybe not…

Anyway, today is the day that Ash Ketchum and his beautiful starter pokemon fiiiiiiinally get to go travelling!

_"You done?"_

Uhm.. Yes?

_"What do you think I'm going to say now?"_

Oh I… dunno?

_"I'm going to say… I'm the only person you can talk to! You're telepathic, and nobody else can understand you! There's nobody around to even talk to, if you could even talk!"_

Oh.

_"Yes. Oh."_

Ash is a big meanie!

_"Jeez, Efi. I know you're excited, but that entire story was unnecessary. I know we're finally going to go travel and all, but why are you telling me everything I already knew?"_

It's for the readers of course!

_"…You've lost me."_

Oh forget it. A beautiful Espeon like me shouldn't have to bother explaining trivial things like that to you. Can we just go now? Pleeeeeease?

_"As always Efi, so vain."_

* * *

**So yeah. I'm writing this in between my Fairy Tail fanfic, I'll be switching between them as I get bits of inspiration to write. So basic premise of this story is – Ash starts out his journey later, Gary already started, Leaf, a friend also left as well. I'm going to bring the general ages of everyone nearer to Ash. When we get towards Hoenn, Sinnoh, people like May and Dawn are going to be maybe 4 or 5 years younger, and definitely not 'romantic interests' People like Misty are around the same age, Brock slightly older and more. Ash will be getting a few different pokemon than normal, and this story also has game/anime events in it. Less of the three team rocket idiots, maybe more of the mass evil corporation rocket.**


	2. Finding a Reason

**Finding a Reason**

* * *

_You know, you don't have to spend so long picking out your travelling clothes right?_

_"Hey, got to wear the right kind of stuff, who knows how often we'll have to camp out. Besides, I do have a sense of style." _

_Took a few years for that to show up._

_"Efi. I was hardly going to be the 'cool kid' when I was six was I? Besides, after 8 years with you, I've learnt it's best to avoid one of those conversations about looks, so I'm just going to drop it and get my gear."_

_But I like those conversations!_

_"I swear… you really are the annoying kid sister I never had. I'll be back with the gear in a minute."_

_Don't forget my food!_

*Facepalm*

_"Oh. I'll have to go buy that. Ehehe."_

_Tcha! I can't believe you forgot that!_

_"You're the distraction, so you have only yourself to blame Efi. Now zip it, and let's get moving."_

Ash took a moment to pick up a black messenger bag from his bedroom, which he had put the necessities into, before grabbing a plain black hat for good measure (Think Sir Aaron hat without the design stuff). After all was said and done, Ash and Efi were finally set to leave on their journey. Ash had settled with a long black coat, with a white undershirt and blue jeans (Similar coat to the Veterans in black and white game fitting closer to the body slightly). He also had a pair of rugged black boots, perfect for all the hiking he was going to have to do.

Efi took a moment before hopping up and settling herself on top of the messenger bag and nestling against Ash's coat.

_"I see you don't want to walk."_

_It's too early for walking. _The voice came out slightly whiny in Ash's mind, conveying how little Efi wanted to be walking.

_"So should I put you in the pokeball?"_

_Don't you dare mister! I wanna see where we're going! Besides, pokeballs are way too cramped, it messes with my head too much, and if you ever put me in a pokeball without asking like you did the last time, I'll throw you into a lake!_

Ash let out an involuntary shudder after remembering the rampage Efi went on last time.

_"Fine, but I won't be lugging you everywhere, you still have to exercise and train with me you know. You'll also have to go in the pokeball from time to time, but I'll ask you."_

_Hmmm… Deal!_

"Just like a little kid…" Ash grumbled under his breath.

_I heard that!_

*Sigh*

_"Let's just go."_

Making his way down the stairs, he called out to his mom. "Hey mom, I'm heading off now!"

Delia Ketchum came bustling out of the kitchen before yanking Ash off the stairs and pulling him into a bone crushing hug.

"C…Can't breathe…" Ash choked out.

Delia let go of Ash before giving him a quick once-over with her eyes. He'd grown up a lot from the cute kid she'd had all those years ago. He was now nearing 6 feet tall, and had a fairly trim physique, from working with the Pokémon at Professor Oak's ranch/habitats. He still had faint scars across his torso from the time with the Sandslash, but those went unseen. The only noticeable scars from the event were across the right side of his face, and were partially covered up by his black eyepatch. She still teased him about the ladies who found him rather attractive, but as he got older he was getting less affected by her little pokes about romance.

"Well dear. Please be careful. I want you to call me as often as you can and no forgetting about your mother ok?" she looked at him with a wry smile.

"Of course, I'll keep in touch." He replied succinctly, a ghost of a smile on his lips. "I'll call you from Viridian City. Should take a few days for me to get there, Efi wants to explore a bit."

"Of course dear!" she replied happily, before looking at Efi. "And take care of my little boy for me?"

Efi nodded her head imperceptibly, while screaming telepathically so only Ash could hear her.

_Of course! He'd be lost without me!_

Ash grumbled slightly, before Delia interrupted his musing with a classic motherly line.

"And don't forget to change your underwear every day!"

*Sigh*

"Take care mom." Ash replied, before stepping out and walking up the road to Professor Oak's lab.

_Yay! We're finally going!_

"Of course Efi. Just going to stop in and say goodbye to the old duffer."

Efi snickered slightly from where she'd nestled on the left side of Ash, while remembering the first time Oak had met her.

_He looked like a magikarp for a week!_

A small twitch of Ash's lips was the only reaction to Efi's amusement.

It didn't take Ash long to reach the lab, before Oak was ushering him in for a small chat.

"So Ash, are you decided on what you're going to be doing?" he questioned.

"Ah yeah, I'll be heading over to Viridian City. After that, who knows?" he replied.

"You always wanted to be a Pokémon master when you were younger, remember?" Oak asked with a wry smile.

"Things change." Was the short reply.

"Still. You should enter the league, you might find that spark inside again. I know that Espeon of yours loves to battle."

_Oh can we Ash? Pleeeease? _

Ash chuckled a little before replying. "I guess it can't hurt, I know Efi is looking forward to it."

"Excellent! I'm sure you'll enjoy it. You should register with your pokedex at the nearest Pokémon centre, that's in Viridian City. There's a gym there too, but you need 7 badges to take the challenge." Oak summed up.

"I guess I should be going. I'll figure things out as I travel. Thanks for everything Professor." Ash spoke warmly.

"Think nothing of it! I'll look after any Pokémon you might end up with. I hope you find some good ones!" said Oak.

While heading on out, Ash picked up a little Pokémon food for Efi, before hearing Oak muttering in the background.

"Now… where did that pizza go?"

Another wry smile, before Ash finally let himself out.

It didn't take long before Ash and Efi found themselves near the woods on the outskirts of Pallet Town, the farthest Ash had ever gone since that day. Ash stopped momentarily before turning around, and looking at the the scattered houses of Pallet Town nestling down below in the valley.

_"Well, here we go."_

After one last look, Ash finally took his first steps out of the borders of Pallet Town, and into the wilderness.

_You did bring the food right?_

_"Of course Efi."_

* * *

**And that's it for the 'first' chapter. Yes, Ash will compete in the league etc, hopefully the speech is easy enough to follow but if you didn't get it.**

_This stuff : _**Efi talking telepathically.(This will also be thoughts from people, but I'll use them sparingly enough so you can easily tell by reading)**

_"This Stuff" : _**Ash talking telepathically to Efi/ Other people**

**And non-italic was spoken speech. Simple.**

**I'm not the best guy out there for writing 'conversations' between characters, but I'll improve. Next time, we'll get to Viridian, along with some events in between. In this fic, Gary has competed in some leagues, he hasn't become a researcher, and is in Kanto at the moment. I'll wrap up Pewter City and in another chapter. Feel free to comment on what pokemon he should catch, but I should tell you that getting a Pidgey/Pidgeotto is a definite. Since it's kanto, I won't be getting many Johto pokes, if any. I'll add more stuff to the summaries as I think of mentioning them.**


	3. The Dark Trees

**The Dark Trees**

* * *

_I'm so tired!_

_"Funny, I thought you enjoyed walking on a sunny day?"_

_But it's so hot!_

_"You can always go in the pokeball."_

_…I'll pass._

_"Thought so."_

It had only been a few hours since Ash and Efi had passed beyond the borders of Pallet Town. They had steadily being taking their time, and the sun was now high in the sky, signifying the midpoint of the day. Ash loved exploring, one of the traits that had stuck with him all through his childhood. There was always a sense of excitement when you travelled off the beaten path, new discoveries could be made, but nothing compared to the sheer fulfilment of curiosity.

As we catch up with them, they were now cutting into the woods, to get out of the brutal heat of midday. Ash and Efi had only seen a few Rattata and Pidgey so far. None of these pokemon initially interested Ash, but after thinking it over for a while, Ash thought it would be a good idea to catch a Pidgey, as it evolved into a very useful flying type, and could help greatly while travelling.

_"Kinda wish I'd caught one of those Pidgey earlier. Just when I decide I want one, there isn't one to find!"_

_As much as I want to keep you to myself, it would have been nice if you'd caught me a friend as well you know? Your lack of decisiveness is annoying!_

_"Zip it Efi! I'll catch some pokemon soon, I don't have to go crazy and catch everything I see!"_

_Just saying you know? Can we please take a break now?_

_"Ehh, guess we can cut through here, it should take us to the river. We'll settle and have some lunch when we get there."_

_About time, I'm starving!_

* * *

**_Some time later…_**

_Is it me, or is really dark now?_

_"I know we were cutting through some of the denser wooded areas, but this does seem unnaturally dark."_

A slight shiver from Efi was the only response. As a Psychic type, dark environments gave her a sense of unease, since Dark type Pokémon were immune to her psychic abilities and equally dangerous offensively.

_"Don't worry about it. We won't be in the area for too long."_

_If you say so…_

The atmosphere was a lot tenser; the sounds of the forest had quietened down to barely a whisper. An almost cold chill pervaded the surroundings. Now Ash had unusually good eyesight, despite only having the one eye. It seemed to defy all logic, but this was a secret he kept to himself. He could almost swear that he saw a pair of eyes looking through the gloom at him, but this wasn't enough to cause him any distress.

Efi took her cue from her trainer, and focused carefully on their surroundings. She might not be the bravest of Pokémon, but she would keep a cool head for her oldest friend, if only to live up to his expectations.

Ash suddenly came to a stop. Something was definitely watching them. He had a sixth sense about these things, and the warning signs were only getting stronger.

_"Feel anything?"_

_Nothing._

_"Well I do. Stay sharp."_

_Okies._

A slight tingling sensation was all the warning Ash got. A small shadow struck out at him, but he managed to sidestep it at the last moment. Efi was not idle, and pinned the unusual phenomenon in place with a strong Psychic.

_"Good job Efi. Knock it out."_

The blue glow surrounding the shadow intensified, before it was slammed into the ground. No further attempts at struggling were made.

Ash quickly pulled out a pokeball and made the capture. Ash let out a small breath of relief before pocketing the ball and picking out a direction to head in.

_"Well. Whatever that Pokémon is, we'll have to find out as soon as we get out of here. Quickly now."_

_Gladly, I don't want to stay here any longer. Brrr._

* * *

**_A short while later…_**

_LIGHT! At last!_

_"I hear you, glad to be out of that place for sure."_

Ash and Efi finally reached the river flowing through the woods, and set up camp for a lunch break.

_"I wonder what that Pokémon was?"_

_Since we're here, can I meet it? Pleeeease?_

_"I guess. I'll check it out on the Pokédex first."_

After fishing out a grey and blue Pokédex from his pocket, he scanned the contents of the pokeball. An electronic voice quickly identified what was contained within.

'Pidgey has an extremely sharp sense of direction and homing instincts. It can locate its nest even when far removed from familiar surroundings. Pidgey is a docile Pokémon, and generally prefers to flee from its enemies rather than fight them. Pidgey protects itself and flushes out potential prey by flapping its wings rapidly and throwing up dust clouds.'

'Sex: Male'

'Ability : Tangled Feet : Raises Evasion when confused.'

'Moves : Tackle, Quick Attack, Sand Attack, Gust, Pursuit, Faint Attack, Brave Bird, Aerial Ace'

Ash let out a low whistle of satisfaction.

_"Pidgey huh? Well that's lucky. And it even has quite a few strong moves."_

_Aren't Pidgey docile?_

_"Yeah."_

_Then why did that one attack us!?_

_"Hmm. Well, the Pidgey line can't normally learn moves such as Pursuit, Faint Attack or even Brave Bird. If I had to guess, perhaps one of its parent's was a Honchkrow? It would explain the behaviour, and probably why it was hanging around in such a dark place."_

_Sometimes I forget you've studied Pokémon for years. I'll buy the explanation. Now are you gonna let the guy out?_

_"Heh, guess so."_

"Come on out Pidgey!" Ash called out, as the Pidgey was let out with a burst of light.

Ash took one look before frowning at the Pidgey he saw in front of him. It looked a little dazed from the effects of the Psychic, but what grabbed Ash's immediate attention were the odd Black tail feathers, mixed in with the normal brown feathers of normal Pidgey's.

"Well you're an unusual Pidgey aren't you?"

The Pidgey turned its sharp black eyes on Ash immediately, as though daring him to say more. However, Ash refused to back down from the gaze, merely looking at the Pidgey with an unblinking eye. To Pidgey, Ash's gaze was almost transfixing, but it forced itself to look away after a short while.

_Ash, what was that?_

_"Simple really, I just had to earn its respect. Lots of Pokémon will try to stare you down; it's a natural thing to do for many different ones. Although, Pidgey are meant to be quite timid. This one is a tough one. By winning the stare down, I earn its respect."_

_Interesting._

"By the way Pidgey, this is Efi, an Espeon." Ash spoke, gesturing to the purple pokemon at his side. "She's been a friend of mine for a long time, so you should get along together, you'll be seeing a lot of each other."

Efi and the Pidgey had a short conversation in Pokéspeech with each other, which unfortunately Ash could not understand, his only form of conversation with Pokémon being the spoken word. Efi was an unusual case, since she could speak telepathically to him, an ability which very few Psychic Pokémon had, unless they were quite strong.

_He's not much of a talker, but he has a sharp mind._

_"Good to know. You should get along well enough."_

"Hey Pidgey, me and Efi are going to eat some lunch, so I'll fix you some up as well. We'll be travelling together a lot, and you'll have to do a fair bit of training if you want to get stronger. You might not enjoy it, but hard work will pay off. Also, here's a word of advice : Don't insult Efi's looks, unless you want her to strip you of your feathers. Trust me; it's not worth the risk."

Efi gave an indignant cry at that proclamation, while Pidgey just shuddered slightly at the implications.

_"By the way Efi, you should let him know about our telepathy thing, it could get weird when I stop talking for hours on end."_

_Do I have to?_

_"Yes. It's only fair the little guy knows. Although he's a bit bigger than the average wild Pidgey, and definitely more experienced."_

_Ahhh fine. I'll tell him._

_"It's also about time you talked with other Pokémon more too."_

_Grr. Fair point._

A little while later, Ash and Efi had gotten the newest member of their little family more acquainted with how they do things. After a short meal and some tending to for the Pidgey, Ash ran him through some exercising drills, and took a quick look at his moves.

"You're definitely faster than most Pidgeys, and definitely stronger than many of the wild ones too. Probably because you don't hang out in a flock for some reason right?"

Pidgey gave a short cheep and a nod of his head, confirming his suspicions.

"Alright. Well, we'll work on improving your moves, and learning some extra ones tomorrow, I want to get through the forest in a few more hours, so I'll recall you unless you want to hang outside and fly around us for a while."

A few short cheeps later, Efi translated for him.

_He says he'll follow us from up in the air for a while._

_"Alright that's fine, he'll work on his endurance while we walk, whether he realises or not I guess."_

_I'm sure he knows._

_"Probably, he's a fairly independent one."_

"Alright, let's head out!"

And with that, they began following the main path out of the forest.

_"If we keep up a steady pace, we should hit Viridian City around sunset. Camping out her tonight is probably a waste of time now anyway."_

_Alright! We get to go indoors for the night then?_

_"Yup. Should be one of the better things we'll end up doing, since after Viridian, we'll definitely need to camp out in the forest for at least a night."_

_Oh. Damn it. _

* * *

__**Notes**

**Sorry, only one capture this chapter, but next chapter will have some Pokémon battles and stuff. Also reaches Viridian and the beginning of the forest trek.**

**Until next time.**


End file.
